Friday, 6 June 2014
Rotoscope Test
Wednesday, 4 June 2014
Character designs
So far, I am beginning to come up with some designs for my ninja character.
All of these designs were created in photoshop, and show three main styles, but they all have similar features;
All of these designs were created in photoshop, and show three main styles, but they all have similar features;
 |
| This design is stylistic. It is not too detailed, and is basic. The target audience for this design is around 8 - 14. |
 |
This design is the most basic design i have created |
Tuesday, 25 March 2014
Saturday, 15 March 2014
Research into Recording Ambient Sounds and Dialouge
Recording Ambient Sound
In film, ambient sound (also known as atmosphere, or background noise) consists of the sounds of a given location or space. It is the opposite of silence.
Every location has distinct and subtle sounds created by its environment, these sound sources mainly include wind, distant traffic, aircraft machinery, wildlife, background music, rain, rustling leaves etc. Basically ambient sound is any sound in the background of a setting that sets the scene. This is very important, as it has the power to provide more of an interesting location through sound.
An example of use of ambient sound, is in my film 'Duke Goes To College', where at the beginning of the sequence, you see Duke walking to the front of the college building. There are many ambient sounds used in this sequence which include: Birds tweeting, the sound of soft wind, and cars passing.
Hard cuts of ambient sound are not preferred; when introducing a new scene or when jumping between two setting, it is ideal to try to introduce the new setting as best as possible. For example in 'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire', there will be many occasions where the setting will jump from the Capitol to the jungle, and before the jungle is shown, you will already be able to hear the ambient sound of flies and bugs, and the swaying of leaves; this really helps the audience to gradually get a feel of the new setting.
When recording ambient sound, you can do one of two things; you can either take ambient sounds from an existing sound library, or go out and record you own ambient recordings; the latter of which is the preferred option, as you can suit the sound specifically to your film.
In 'the Hunger Games: Catching Fire', the sound editor Jeremy Peirson went to Maui and recorded his own ambient sounds for the jungle scenes in the film. These included sounds of the ocean, trees and leaves swaying and the wild life
When compiling the ambient sounds together for 'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire', the sound team used software called 'Atmos'. This software was used in the fog sequence, the baboon sequence and the Jabberjay sequence to ultimately create the desired feelings of ambience to the audience.
This video explains the Sound Design process that was used in Post-Production
of 'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
In film, ambient sound (also known as atmosphere, or background noise) consists of the sounds of a given location or space. It is the opposite of silence.
Every location has distinct and subtle sounds created by its environment, these sound sources mainly include wind, distant traffic, aircraft machinery, wildlife, background music, rain, rustling leaves etc. Basically ambient sound is any sound in the background of a setting that sets the scene. This is very important, as it has the power to provide more of an interesting location through sound.
 |
| This is a picture one of the shots in my edit of 'Duke Goes To College' in which ambient sound occurs. |
Hard cuts of ambient sound are not preferred; when introducing a new scene or when jumping between two setting, it is ideal to try to introduce the new setting as best as possible. For example in 'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire', there will be many occasions where the setting will jump from the Capitol to the jungle, and before the jungle is shown, you will already be able to hear the ambient sound of flies and bugs, and the swaying of leaves; this really helps the audience to gradually get a feel of the new setting.
When recording ambient sound, you can do one of two things; you can either take ambient sounds from an existing sound library, or go out and record you own ambient recordings; the latter of which is the preferred option, as you can suit the sound specifically to your film.
 |
| Jeremy Peirson, the sound designer for 'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire' |
When compiling the ambient sounds together for 'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire', the sound team used software called 'Atmos'. This software was used in the fog sequence, the baboon sequence and the Jabberjay sequence to ultimately create the desired feelings of ambience to the audience.
Recording Dialogue
The dialogue recorded on location, which in most cases is the projects only source of dialogue in post-production, is not always recorded with correct technique, which results in poor audio quality.
Many things must be accounted for when recording dialogue on location; bear in mind what microphone you are using, and consider the possibility that other background noises may interfere with the actors dialogue. Try to use a microphone that is ultra-directional for external locations; these microphones can be aimed at a sound source and will only pick up the required sound. The more directional the microphone, the better it will be at picking up sounds from its front end, and the higher the signal-to-noise ratio will be. Using directional microphones may help to record dialogue easier.
 |
| Boom microphone |
In order to get the best quality and volume of dialogue possible, you must aim to place the microphone as close to the actor as possible; this can be achieved using a boom pole, to reach angles you may not be able to reach normally, or you could use wireless microphones, hidden in the actors costume.
Having the microphone closest to the actor will ensure audio focus on their dialogue.
Problems may occur in post-prodution of your film; one frequent big problem to do with dialogue is that sometime, the dialogue recordings won't be good enough quality, or will have ambient sound in the background. A good way to solve this problem is by means of 'looping' or ADR (Automatic Dialogue Replacement). This is hen you call in your actors to a sound studio, and have them dub over the footage, so they are effectively lip-syncing themselves. This gives you fresh audio that doesn't have to be recorded on location. You can easily hide ADR by ensuring there is ambient sound added to the clip.
 |
| Clint Eastwood as 'the man with no name' in 'the Good the Bad and the Ugly. |
You see this in a lot in foreign films, where the script or language of the dialogue has been changed in post production; a good example of this in in the Clint Eastwood film 'the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly'. There are many instances in which you can clearly see that dialogue has been dubbed over the actors in post-production. This would have been due to on location dialogue problems, or changes in the script in post-production.
This video explains the Sound Design process that was used in Post-Production
of 'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Tuesday, 11 March 2014
Use of After Effects in DGTC
One of the main effects in my film is the one where the camera zooms in on Dukes face, we see him blink, then open his eyes, showing that they have changes colour.
This was a pretty simple effect to create; the entirety of the effect was done in Adobe after effects.
The raw footage of the is clip was me just having my eyes open and then blinking slowly. Then it was imported into after effects.
Initially the plan was to create two mask over each of my eyes that would each be a translucent shade of red; I first had to split the clip at the point when my eyes became open again, so that I could let the masks last until the clip had ended. I then had to create an adjustment layer and a null object for each eye; the adjustment layer would be where I would create the masks, and the null object is where I would do the motion tracking.
I tracked each eye in each of the null objects, then created the masks in the adjustment layers.
As you can see from this picture, I have created masks in the adjustment layers. The colour is achieved by opening the curves and bending them to get the desired colour.
I then had two masks that followed my eyes for the duration of the clip. to finish, I then added some feathering to the colour to thin the outline and make them more realistic.
I created a flame in Charlies hand in after effects, this is the effect where Dan opens his hands, and creates a small flame.
I had to watch some tutorials in order to get this effect right, but it looks good in the film.
Basically I had to download a video of a flame on a black background; I imported it into after effects, and changed the blending mode to screen, which made the background disappear.
I then tracked it to Charlies hand, to make it look like it was moving along with his hand.
I then exported the footage out of After effects, and put it in the premiere document.
This was a pretty simple effect to create; the entirety of the effect was done in Adobe after effects.
The raw footage of the is clip was me just having my eyes open and then blinking slowly. Then it was imported into after effects.
Initially the plan was to create two mask over each of my eyes that would each be a translucent shade of red; I first had to split the clip at the point when my eyes became open again, so that I could let the masks last until the clip had ended. I then had to create an adjustment layer and a null object for each eye; the adjustment layer would be where I would create the masks, and the null object is where I would do the motion tracking.
I tracked each eye in each of the null objects, then created the masks in the adjustment layers.
As you can see from this picture, I have created masks in the adjustment layers. The colour is achieved by opening the curves and bending them to get the desired colour.
I then had two masks that followed my eyes for the duration of the clip. to finish, I then added some feathering to the colour to thin the outline and make them more realistic.
I created a flame in Charlies hand in after effects, this is the effect where Dan opens his hands, and creates a small flame.
I had to watch some tutorials in order to get this effect right, but it looks good in the film.
Basically I had to download a video of a flame on a black background; I imported it into after effects, and changed the blending mode to screen, which made the background disappear.
I then tracked it to Charlies hand, to make it look like it was moving along with his hand.
I then exported the footage out of After effects, and put it in the premiere document.
Monday, 10 March 2014
P1 Music Analysis - Submarine Clip
Purpose
The purpose of the music playing over this scene is the show Oliver's thought process. I see the music as reflecting how his brain is working, and thinking about the subject of bullying. the fast tempo shows that he has a fast thought process, and also that his is thinking deeply about the subject. This is shown when he gives the examples of the boy who did the turd in the playground, and the other boy who was stabbed in the back with compasses.
The music i also used in order to mark the transitions between Oliver's examples.
Elements
When Oliver is giving the examples, all of the music in in a high register, and the music tends to change between them. When he talks about the boy who did the turd, legato violins play in a high pitch. Then it changes to staccato flutes.
There are no bass instruments and there is a lack of percussion which gives the scene a soft comfortable setting to watch. The tempo of the music is andante (walking speed) to keep the scene comfortable.
Meaning
The music in this clip from 'Submarine' makes an impact on the audience. I think that it ultimately helps the audience to think hard about what Oliver says during the clip, and to realise that he has a definitive point to make. The calmness and the high register of the music gives your mind some space and time to think about these things.
The purpose of the music playing over this scene is the show Oliver's thought process. I see the music as reflecting how his brain is working, and thinking about the subject of bullying. the fast tempo shows that he has a fast thought process, and also that his is thinking deeply about the subject. This is shown when he gives the examples of the boy who did the turd in the playground, and the other boy who was stabbed in the back with compasses.
The music i also used in order to mark the transitions between Oliver's examples.
Elements
When Oliver is giving the examples, all of the music in in a high register, and the music tends to change between them. When he talks about the boy who did the turd, legato violins play in a high pitch. Then it changes to staccato flutes.
There are no bass instruments and there is a lack of percussion which gives the scene a soft comfortable setting to watch. The tempo of the music is andante (walking speed) to keep the scene comfortable.
Meaning
The music in this clip from 'Submarine' makes an impact on the audience. I think that it ultimately helps the audience to think hard about what Oliver says during the clip, and to realise that he has a definitive point to make. The calmness and the high register of the music gives your mind some space and time to think about these things.
Sunday, 2 March 2014
Composing Music for Film
There are five key stages that must be followed when composing music for film:
Stage #1 - Immersing yourself in the film
Watch the film that you are composing the music for; this helps you establish the story, and gives you an idea of the characters (Personality, Attitudes, and General Feel).
Then watch it again, as the second time round you will usually start seeing different things and you will get into the rhythm of the film easier as well.
Then, watch the whole film without any sound. This means without any dialogue or sound fx, just pure visuals; You will get to see some more details or notice other things (If it is very still at points or very fast at others.) The style of filming and the video editing will also stand out more, allowing you to get a better feel of the film. Your brain wont be distracted by sound elements either, which frees your mind to just focus on the images.
Stage #2 - Select Instruments / Atmosphere
Establish the atmosphere of the film, and specific parts in the film, and begin to associate individual characters with certain instruments, to develop their motif. For example the motif for a baddie in an action film will usually have a dark atmosphere so you will want to use instruments that reflect their atmosphere.
Stage #3 - Stick to the rhythm of editing / story of the film
The video editing can be fast or slow; make sure that you can establish the 'beat' of the film as well. It will usually change throughout the film so take that into account when composing.
The music you compose for the film must follow the story. It needs to match the general tone of the film and must accurately describe character, their thoughts, feelings, worries, other emotions and also ambitions. Remember that there are a lot of things that music can do for film, so make sure that you use them to your advantage.
For example, music can give hints to the audience about things that may happen later on in the film. Its like in the 'Star Wars' prequels; Anakin Skywalker's motif has some elements of the imperial march. This indicates that he may have something to do with Darth Vader later on. Using these techniques while composing can make your music choice much more interesting and engaging.
Stage #4 - Do not ask for feedback
Feedback can be a double edged sword. If you are really into the creation process, somebody's feedback can be helpful, or not helpful at all. You really need to be confident about your musical choices, and you need to know well enough where you want to go with it, in terms of intention and emotion, even though you aren't really sure at this point what instruments you may use. You can have people help you with the music, or not. Both can be helpful
Stage #5 - Compose
Begin to put ideas into action by playing and recording your music. Take into account tempo tha
t must match the pace of the film, and also the instruments you want to use.
Watch the film again without sound, but this time, put your music to it and see if it works. It doesn't matter if your choices don't really fit when you put it to the film, as you can always go back and change it later. You can also add elements or change instruments to make the music sound better and more engaging.
Sources from: http://www.wikihow.com/Compose-Music-for-Film
Stage #1 - Immersing yourself in the film
Watch the film that you are composing the music for; this helps you establish the story, and gives you an idea of the characters (Personality, Attitudes, and General Feel).
Then watch it again, as the second time round you will usually start seeing different things and you will get into the rhythm of the film easier as well.
Play the film in the background while you are going about your day. This means that your brain will get used to it more, and you will naturally come up with musical and compositional ideas about music that will fit.
Then, watch the whole film without any sound. This means without any dialogue or sound fx, just pure visuals; You will get to see some more details or notice other things (If it is very still at points or very fast at others.) The style of filming and the video editing will also stand out more, allowing you to get a better feel of the film. Your brain wont be distracted by sound elements either, which frees your mind to just focus on the images.
Stage #2 - Select Instruments / Atmosphere
Establish the atmosphere of the film, and specific parts in the film, and begin to associate individual characters with certain instruments, to develop their motif. For example the motif for a baddie in an action film will usually have a dark atmosphere so you will want to use instruments that reflect their atmosphere.
Stage #3 - Stick to the rhythm of editing / story of the film
The video editing can be fast or slow; make sure that you can establish the 'beat' of the film as well. It will usually change throughout the film so take that into account when composing.
The music you compose for the film must follow the story. It needs to match the general tone of the film and must accurately describe character, their thoughts, feelings, worries, other emotions and also ambitions. Remember that there are a lot of things that music can do for film, so make sure that you use them to your advantage.
For example, music can give hints to the audience about things that may happen later on in the film. Its like in the 'Star Wars' prequels; Anakin Skywalker's motif has some elements of the imperial march. This indicates that he may have something to do with Darth Vader later on. Using these techniques while composing can make your music choice much more interesting and engaging.
Stage #4 - Do not ask for feedback
Feedback can be a double edged sword. If you are really into the creation process, somebody's feedback can be helpful, or not helpful at all. You really need to be confident about your musical choices, and you need to know well enough where you want to go with it, in terms of intention and emotion, even though you aren't really sure at this point what instruments you may use. You can have people help you with the music, or not. Both can be helpful
Stage #5 - Compose
Begin to put ideas into action by playing and recording your music. Take into account tempo tha
t must match the pace of the film, and also the instruments you want to use.
Watch the film again without sound, but this time, put your music to it and see if it works. It doesn't matter if your choices don't really fit when you put it to the film, as you can always go back and change it later. You can also add elements or change instruments to make the music sound better and more engaging.
Sources from: http://www.wikihow.com/Compose-Music-for-Film
Friday, 28 February 2014
P1 Use of Music in Film - Legal Considerations
1. Right of Use
What's the difference between publishing right and recording rights?
You must be licensed in order to use music, you need two licences:
Publishing License - Received from the people who own the rights to the piece of music i.e. lyrics and composition. You should remember that for this kind of copyright, copyright exist only when the music or words have been recorded or written down.
Recording License - From the people who performed the version of music that you want to use. For example, sound recording copyright exist in a pianists recording of one of Beethoven's sonatas.
How would you go about clearing a piece of music for use in film?
When looking for a soundtrack to use for a film, you need to research into who made the music; for example there isn't really much point in trying to get rights to a song by Beyonce, as there would be no chance of getting granted with access. But if there was a recording of the same song by a local band or singer, you could ask if they had it for sale anywhere, but only before asking the for use of it in your film.
You should also look into copyright of the soundtrack to see who owns it. If it was by a local singer or artist, you could offer to buy them out. This would mean offering them a one off fee to buy their track. It would mean the track would officially be yours to use.
Can you use music in your sequence if the composer has died?
If the composer died over seventy years ago, then the original copyright for the music is extinguished. However you still need to consider who owns the rights to the recording of the music. This will usually be the record company. You will need to approach them for clearance to use the recording in your film.
What is incidental music?
Incidental music is music in a play, tv program, radio program, video game, or film. It is often background music, and adds atmosphere to the action.
Below is some incidental music from the Prometheus Soundtrack
2. Creative Commons
What is creative commons?
Creative Commons (CC) is a non prophet organisation devoted to expanding the range of creative works available for others to build on legally and to share.
Why does it exist?
The organisation has released several copyright licenses known as creative commons licenses free of charge to the public. These licenses allows creators to communicate which rights they deserve and which rights they waive for the benefit of recipients to other creators.
Explain the 6 different types of CC Licenses
CReative commons licenses consist of four major condition modules: Attribution (BY), requiring attribution to the original author; Share Alike (SA), allowing derivative works under the same or similar license (later or jurisdiction version); Non-Commercial (NC), requiring the work is not used for commercial purposes. No Derivative works (ND) allowing only the original work, without derivatives. These are combined to make six Creative Commons Licenses
1. Attribution (CC BY)
2. Attribution Share Alike (CC BY-SA)
3. Attribution No Derivatives (CC BY-ND)
4. Attribution Non-Commercial (CC BY-NC
5. Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike (CC BY-NC-SA)
6. Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND)
3. Your Choice Of Music
Music Choice #1
This piece of music is played on the piano. The artist is known by ERH on freesound.org, and has described it as 'Piano with a free approach to scale and rhythm.'
This piece of music is in the introductory sequence of my film when duke is walking into college; It is important to make the music as accurate as possible in order to set the scene, and establish the main character. This piano piece is very light and mellow. It shows that the weather is good, and it also reflects the ambient sound of the birds chirping, and the light breeze of wind.
This is the page where I got this piece of music from; in the bottom right, you can see that the creative commons license states, 'This work is licensed under the Attribution Noncommercial License'
Music Choice #2
The second piece of music that I used for my film was a loop which I also found on freesound.org. This piece of music is used at the start of the second scene in my film during the voiceover montage;
The artist is known as 'SkAiRPiGG' on freesound, and the loop is called 'Drums with Shuffle.'
The artist is known as 'SkAiRPiGG' on freesound, and the loop is called 'Drums with Shuffle.'
This piece is very up beat and has a fast tempo; this reflects scene two, as it is representing the start of Dukes time at college, which is exciting but is also a scary challenge for Duke.
This is the page where I got this piece of music from; again, you can see that in the bottom right of the page the Creative Commons License states, 'This work is licensed under the Creative Commons 0 License'
Thursday, 27 February 2014
Foley Sound and SFX Research
What is a Foley Artist, what do they do and why are they needed?
Foley is a film sound technique which was invented by Jack Foley in 1927; It is the art of putting sound effects to films, TV, advertisements and also video games; a Foley artist will recreate sounds that either cannot be recorded, or that would sound better than the original sound, for example if a foley artist wanted to recreated the sound of one man punching another man in the face, they may use different types of materials and textures to create the sound. One way that foley artists use to recreate punching sound effects is putting celery inside a pillow case, and hitting it with a rolling pin. Foley Artists recreate the sound scape in films to assist in making the sound more dramatic and engaging; they will only really use foley for physical sound such as textures.
During a film shoot, the main priority of the sound is to get the audio of the actors, which means there is less focus on the sound effects that will be needed for the film. Adding foley sound in later helps solve this problem.
Explain the order in which the Foley artist creates the sound
Foley artists crate footstep of all the main characters, then the back ground characters, then they will create sound for objects moving in the scene
What are the key skills and qualities foley artists must have
A Foley artists uses an arsenal of wacky items to match the sounds in a film.
Key skills include good imagination and creativity, the ability to collaborate and work as a team, good sense of timing, rhythm and hand-eye coordination. Some physical strength and stamina are also good, as you may have to use heavy objects, or hit objects fast.
What is the advantage of using real objects to create sound effects rather than using digital production or sound libraries?
Using Foley sound rather than digital production allows you to create sounds that are more engaging to the audience by creating dramatic sound fx. Also using sound libraries doesn't really give you a wide choice, and can limit the action on screen. Foley sound can be individually suited to any specific action on screen.
Using specific examples, describe how key sounds are created
The sound of the lasers in Star wars was created by hitting a metal cable with a hammer.
No synthesisers or digital equipment was used to create the sound of the blasters in the all of the Star Wars films. It was simply created by hitting a straight metal cable with a spanner. Hitting the cable at different angle would create different pitches and were effective as the sound effect.
The sound of the dinosaurs in jurassic park were created using a mix of animal noises which consisted of Whales, Horses and Koala Bears.
These effects were complied digitally and would have been enhanced with technology to become deeper and more scary.
Foley is a film sound technique which was invented by Jack Foley in 1927; It is the art of putting sound effects to films, TV, advertisements and also video games; a Foley artist will recreate sounds that either cannot be recorded, or that would sound better than the original sound, for example if a foley artist wanted to recreated the sound of one man punching another man in the face, they may use different types of materials and textures to create the sound. One way that foley artists use to recreate punching sound effects is putting celery inside a pillow case, and hitting it with a rolling pin. Foley Artists recreate the sound scape in films to assist in making the sound more dramatic and engaging; they will only really use foley for physical sound such as textures.
During a film shoot, the main priority of the sound is to get the audio of the actors, which means there is less focus on the sound effects that will be needed for the film. Adding foley sound in later helps solve this problem.
Explain the order in which the Foley artist creates the sound
Foley artists crate footstep of all the main characters, then the back ground characters, then they will create sound for objects moving in the scene
What are the key skills and qualities foley artists must have
A Foley artists uses an arsenal of wacky items to match the sounds in a film.
Key skills include good imagination and creativity, the ability to collaborate and work as a team, good sense of timing, rhythm and hand-eye coordination. Some physical strength and stamina are also good, as you may have to use heavy objects, or hit objects fast.
What is the advantage of using real objects to create sound effects rather than using digital production or sound libraries?
Using Foley sound rather than digital production allows you to create sounds that are more engaging to the audience by creating dramatic sound fx. Also using sound libraries doesn't really give you a wide choice, and can limit the action on screen. Foley sound can be individually suited to any specific action on screen.
Using specific examples, describe how key sounds are created
No synthesisers or digital equipment was used to create the sound of the blasters in the all of the Star Wars films. It was simply created by hitting a straight metal cable with a spanner. Hitting the cable at different angle would create different pitches and were effective as the sound effect.
These effects were complied digitally and would have been enhanced with technology to become deeper and more scary.
Rough Cut Appraisal
My rough cut is not an accurate representation of my final cut; it only shows the first scene when Duke meets Dan for the first time. no visual effects are shown either.
My rough cut is basically a basic overview of the first scene.
There is dialogue which is clear and makes sense. It accurately introduces Duke, Dan, and Katie, who are the obvious main characters in the film.
My rough cut is missing a few minor details; after Duke walks around the corner by the cars, there is meant to be a shot of Dan showing off his powers, by holding a large flame in his hands; this will be added later for my final cut and will be achieved in after effects.
No colour correction has been added either; the tone of my sequence is supposed to be very washed out and bland to show Dukes sheltered personality. This can be added in premiere.
Overall, my rough cut obviously isn't an accurate representation of my final sequence and there are a lot of additions and changes that need to be made.
My rough cut is basically a basic overview of the first scene.
There is dialogue which is clear and makes sense. It accurately introduces Duke, Dan, and Katie, who are the obvious main characters in the film.
My rough cut is missing a few minor details; after Duke walks around the corner by the cars, there is meant to be a shot of Dan showing off his powers, by holding a large flame in his hands; this will be added later for my final cut and will be achieved in after effects.
No colour correction has been added either; the tone of my sequence is supposed to be very washed out and bland to show Dukes sheltered personality. This can be added in premiere.
Overall, my rough cut obviously isn't an accurate representation of my final sequence and there are a lot of additions and changes that need to be made.
Tuesday, 4 February 2014
4/2/14 Lesson 3
In the final lesson, I spent most of my time editing the footage together. This mainly consisted of compiling the shots together in premiere. I also spent a good amount of time focusing on the music that will be played during the montage, and i think it fits really well
4/2/14 Lesson 2
In our second lesson, me and Reece went out and filmed the remaining establishing shots that we needed for the film, all being shots of the college that are shown during Duke's voiceover montage.
4/2/14 Problems
Today, we had a bit of a problem regarding two of our actors; Dayna forgot to wear her costume to college which meant that we couldn't film with her, and Charlie had a driving test which meant that he wasn't present for most of the day.
This was a huge problem, as we had planned to film the rest of our shots, and hopefully have finished all of our filming. Obviously this meant that we couldn't film the shots with Dayna or Charlie.
To prevent this from happening in the future, we can notify our actors about when they need to come into college in their costumes, and make sure that they don't forget by telling them the day before.
Obviously there wasn't much that we could do about Charlie's absence, but we can always film with him on another day.
As Charlie wasn't present and Dayna didn't have her costume, it meant that Reece and I had do the filming on our own; there were some problems with our camera's SD card which delayed us in filming, but we still got to do all of the shots. In order to prevent camera problems from happening, we will remove all of the footage from the SD card after we have finished filming.
This was a huge problem, as we had planned to film the rest of our shots, and hopefully have finished all of our filming. Obviously this meant that we couldn't film the shots with Dayna or Charlie.
To prevent this from happening in the future, we can notify our actors about when they need to come into college in their costumes, and make sure that they don't forget by telling them the day before.
Obviously there wasn't much that we could do about Charlie's absence, but we can always film with him on another day.
As Charlie wasn't present and Dayna didn't have her costume, it meant that Reece and I had do the filming on our own; there were some problems with our camera's SD card which delayed us in filming, but we still got to do all of the shots. In order to prevent camera problems from happening, we will remove all of the footage from the SD card after we have finished filming.
4/2/14 Lesson 1
In this lesson, I have continued to edit the footage for the film into premiere; the majority of what I've been doing in editing has been adding footage, and trimming it down.
I will continue to do this with all of the footage that we have so far.
I may also experiment with music as well.
I will continue to do this with all of the footage that we have so far.
I may also experiment with music as well.
Friday, 31 January 2014
Production Meeting
Production Meeting: 30/01/14
People Present:
Ben Harrison
Reece Georgiades
Charlie Hall
We have discussed what we are going to do up until the 14th of Feb.
Special Effects:
As we didn't have any effects in our rough cuts, we have decided to add them in the forthcoming lessons. we will continue to watch some tutorials in our own time so we have an idea of how to bring our ideas to life. We will then get to work in after effects to try and get some good results.
Re-Shooting shots:
Some shots have good composition, but some are not so good. Some have bins in!! We will need to sort this out by re-shooting the shots.We ill look through our rough cuts and select the bad shots to re-shoot. We will do this after a few days of attempting our special effects.
People Present:
Ben Harrison
Reece Georgiades
Charlie Hall
We have discussed what we are going to do up until the 14th of Feb.
Special Effects:
As we didn't have any effects in our rough cuts, we have decided to add them in the forthcoming lessons. we will continue to watch some tutorials in our own time so we have an idea of how to bring our ideas to life. We will then get to work in after effects to try and get some good results.
Re-Shooting shots:
Some shots have good composition, but some are not so good. Some have bins in!! We will need to sort this out by re-shooting the shots.We ill look through our rough cuts and select the bad shots to re-shoot. We will do this after a few days of attempting our special effects.
Thursday, 30 January 2014
P! Production Meeting
Date: 30/1/14
People Present:
Ben Harrison
Charlie Hall
Reece Georgiades
We have discussed what we are going to do up until 14/2/14
What has been talked about / decided?
Special Effects:
As we didn't habe any effects in our rough cuts, we have decided to ad them in later shots. We are continuing to watch more after effects tutorials in our own time so that we have a rough idea of how to do our chosen effects (Fire in Charlies hands in two different shots to count as two effects, and the shot where my eyes turn red.)
We will then do a few test shots to get an idea of how to do the final effects.
Re-shooting shots
Some shots have good composition, but others will need to be reshot, as the compositions are not satisfactory. We will look through our rough cuts and select the bad shots to reshoot. This will be done after we have got a handle of our effects.
People Present:
Ben Harrison
Charlie Hall
Reece Georgiades
We have discussed what we are going to do up until 14/2/14
What has been talked about / decided?
Special Effects:
As we didn't habe any effects in our rough cuts, we have decided to ad them in later shots. We are continuing to watch more after effects tutorials in our own time so that we have a rough idea of how to do our chosen effects (Fire in Charlies hands in two different shots to count as two effects, and the shot where my eyes turn red.)
We will then do a few test shots to get an idea of how to do the final effects.
Re-shooting shots
Some shots have good composition, but others will need to be reshot, as the compositions are not satisfactory. We will look through our rough cuts and select the bad shots to reshoot. This will be done after we have got a handle of our effects.
Tuesday, 28 January 2014
Tuesday, 14 January 2014
14/1/14 timeline
What I Have Done
Today, we filmed the establishing shots of the college for the film; this included going round the college and taking shots of buildings, corridors and courtyards.
Most of the rest of the day consisted of watching videos of VFX tutorials in After Effects; this effect will be used in the film, with an extra showing their friend their lightning powers.
This is a link to a video I watched about creating lightning in After Effects:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNXECHjLwjw
I also watched a tutorial about changing eye colour in after effects; this will be used at the end of the film in the last shot when the camera zooms into dukes face, and shows his eyes changing colour.
Here is the link to that video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wx9ZYlqfItY
Today, we filmed the establishing shots of the college for the film; this included going round the college and taking shots of buildings, corridors and courtyards.
Most of the rest of the day consisted of watching videos of VFX tutorials in After Effects; this effect will be used in the film, with an extra showing their friend their lightning powers.
This is a link to a video I watched about creating lightning in After Effects:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNXECHjLwjw
I also watched a tutorial about changing eye colour in after effects; this will be used at the end of the film in the last shot when the camera zooms into dukes face, and shows his eyes changing colour.
Here is the link to that video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wx9ZYlqfItY
Character Costume Design with Actors
Duke
Dan
Katie
 |
| Duke will be played by myself. Duke wears a black hoodie, underneath a grey jacket and a navy body warmer. Duke also wears black skinny jeans and black converse
trainers.
|
Dan
 |
| Dan will be played by Charlie Hall. Dan wears a black jacket, blue jeans and dark blue trainers. |
Katie
 |
| Katie will be played by Dayna Crawford; Katie wears a white top with black stripes and a black belt with a cream cardigan. She also wears black leggings and black shoes |
Health and Safety
In our first lesson today, we were given a talk by the health and safety administrator of Long Road Sixth Form College; he basically gave us a list of rules to follow when going out to film this project. these rules included:
- Not climbing on things
- Taking caution when filming in corridors, stairs and slippery ground
- Use the 'Filming in Progress' signs when filming
- Wear the High-Vis jackets
- Being caution of people with restricted sight and/or hearing
- Not climbing on things
- Taking caution when filming in corridors, stairs and slippery ground
- Use the 'Filming in Progress' signs when filming
- Wear the High-Vis jackets
- Being caution of people with restricted sight and/or hearing
Thursday, 9 January 2014
Tuesday, 7 January 2014
Problems that may occur during the project
Inconveniences
Problems with weather - take umbrellas if it is raining, or check the forecast and film on dry days
Problems with casting - be organised in casting accurate actors, and have understudies as back up.
Running overtime with filming - stick to the film schedule
Minor Problems
Being able to do all of the VFX may be difficult - Watch tutorials and practise
Group member not turning up - have good communication with group members so we know if they are not coming in
Actors not being in college on film day - Have understudies, notify actors beforehand
Bad Composition - Take time with the shots
Group may not be concentrated on the task - be focused, organised, and don't waste time
Sound may not sound good - make sure equipment works well, and thats the environment is suitable
Footage looking bad on camera - make sure the composition is correct, keep camera on tripod to reduce shake
Dialogue may not sound natural in filming - redraft the script if necessary
Post production / editing in time - stick to the schedule / calendar
Not being organised enough - Stick to the schedule / calendar to keep organised with the project
Major Problems
The mac may not save or delete all our work - have the footage backed up on the computer and save frequently
Not getting enough footage - when filming, have the storyboards with you so you don't forget any shots
Problems with weather - take umbrellas if it is raining, or check the forecast and film on dry days
Problems with casting - be organised in casting accurate actors, and have understudies as back up.
Running overtime with filming - stick to the film schedule
Minor Problems
Being able to do all of the VFX may be difficult - Watch tutorials and practise
Group member not turning up - have good communication with group members so we know if they are not coming in
Actors not being in college on film day - Have understudies, notify actors beforehand
Bad Composition - Take time with the shots
Group may not be concentrated on the task - be focused, organised, and don't waste time
Sound may not sound good - make sure equipment works well, and thats the environment is suitable
Footage looking bad on camera - make sure the composition is correct, keep camera on tripod to reduce shake
Dialogue may not sound natural in filming - redraft the script if necessary
Post production / editing in time - stick to the schedule / calendar
Not being organised enough - Stick to the schedule / calendar to keep organised with the project
Major Problems
The mac may not save or delete all our work - have the footage backed up on the computer and save frequently
Not getting enough footage - when filming, have the storyboards with you so you don't forget any shots
Casting Sheet (Duke)
Production name: Duke Goes To College
Actor: Ben Harrison
Contact Telephone Number: 07411439149
Contact Email Address: bengsharrison@gmail.com
Date of Birth: 05/07/1997
Age: 16
Parents Contact Number: 01954715110
Parents Email: becky@harrisons.cc
Hair Colour: Brown
Eye Colour: Brown
Height: 6ft
Weight: 10st 5oz
Previous Acting Experience: 2008, Year 6 School Production of Bugsy Malone
Character Played: Bugsy Malone
Special Skills: non specified
Wardrobe Requirements: Duke will wear a white shirt
Casting Choices (Main Characters)
Duke
Actor: Ben Harrison
Duke is tall, good looking, friendly looking, with brown hair and brown eyes, and he wears black hoodies.
Dan
Actor: Charlie Hall
Dan is smart and casual, always happy, and is welcoming to new people.
Katie
Actor: Dayna Crawford
Katie is an short, desirable, attractive female, with long blonde hair.
Actor: Ben Harrison
Duke is tall, good looking, friendly looking, with brown hair and brown eyes, and he wears black hoodies.
Dan
Actor: Charlie Hall
Dan is smart and casual, always happy, and is welcoming to new people.
Katie
Actor: Dayna Crawford
Katie is an short, desirable, attractive female, with long blonde hair.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)